JEDDAH, 18 September 2007 — Two men from Chad were in critical condition at a Jeddah hospital yesterday after allegedly stealing an old man’s wallet and getting into an accident with an eyewitness in a SUV who tried to chase them down.
“From what I saw it appeared as if every bone in their body was crushed to pieces,” said Thamer Al-Juhani, a witness to the accident involving the SUV and the two men who were on motorbike.
Witnesses said the man in the SUV slammed into the men on the motorbike, crushing them between the vehicle and the wall of a school in south Jeddah. The impact caused a section of the wall to collapse.
“It was early Saturday morning when I saw the jeep running the red light chasing two men on a motorbike near Al-Thagher School,” said Al-Juhani.
“That’s when it happened. The driver rammed his car into the bike and slammed it into the wall; it was a painful site,” he added.
According to the police, eyewitnesses said a number of men in a Mitsubishi SUV started chasing the two men on the motorbike after seeing them cut the left side pocket of an old man’s dish dash, snatching his wallet and money as he exited an ATM booth on the Makkah Road.
The driver said he and his passengers had witnessed the men rob the old man, which drove them in rage since the crime occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.
Jeddah police say they receive hundreds of complaints from residents yearly of thieves on motorbikes snatching mobile phones and wallets from unsuspecting pedestrians.
“They are very keen on the locations they choose,” explained an officer. “Some stalk on unsuspecting targets in front ATM machines, as people walk out of the both and start counting their money. Others prey on victims’ mobile phones at restaurants.”
